The clinicopathologic significance of enriching grated cassava mash with red palm oil in the production of gari

The neglect of traditional processing methods in the production of gari (toasted cassava granules) has been blamed for reported cases of poisoning following consumption of gari. This study investigatedthe nutritional and clinicopathologic effects of not enriching cassavamash with red palm oil (RPO) during gari production. Two garisamples were produced with and without RPO. Total cyanogen, acetonecyanohydrin, free cyanogen and crude protein contents were not found tobe significantly (p>0.05) different between the two. The samples werefed exclusively to two different groups of Sprague-Dawley rats for a tenweek experimental period during which clinical observations were recordeddaily. At the end, vital body organs were examined grossly and microscopically. There was a significant (p<0.05) reduction in severityand percentage of animals exhibiting clinical abnormalities and lesions ofchronic cyanide poisoning in the group fed gari produced with RPO.This result implies an association between the enrichment of cassava mashwith RPO during gari production and the reduction of severity andpercentage of animals affected by chronic cyanide poisoning.